The district is throwing a party for the community to see pictures of its new buildings and chat with the contractors.
The celebration will be from 3:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at Pearl Stable, located at 312 Pearl Parkway.
The event is open to the public and admission is free.
John Strybos, associate vice chancellor of facilities operation and construction management, said maximum capacity is determined by fire codes, and Pearl’s Web site lists capacity at 500 inside as well as a patio that can accommodate at least 500 more.
Strybos said the celebration is intended to show the public how their tax dollars were spent.
“This is an opportunity for the Alamo Colleges to showcase to the community-at-large the work we’ve done with the funds they’ve trusted us with,” Strybos said.
The $450 million bond project was funded in 2005 by a 0.03 percent increase in ad valorem tax for Bexar County property owners.
Each college will have two tables at the event; one table will feature the work done and the academic programs housed within the new buildings, and the other will have the contractors talking about the work.
Each college also will feature photographs of their new buildings. Strybos said each college has submitted five photographs except St. Philip’s College, which has submitted three.
Student music groups from each college will perform throughout the evening, and student representatives will be handing out information on the new buildings on their campuses.
Strybos said the celebration was scheduled at Pearl instead of one of the campuses because the event is intended for the community, and also because of cost.
“To do it the right way, we’d have five celebrations at five locations,” Strybos said, which would result in an exponentially higher cost.
He did acknowledge there will be smaller celebrations on the five campuses in the coming months to “recognize the individual college personnel who really made this a success.”
Dates for this college’s celebration have yet to be determined.
Northwest Vista’s celebration will be 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Nov. 13; Palo Alto’s will be 10 a.m. to noon on the same day.
St. Philip’s will have its celebration 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 17, and Northeast Lakeview’s event will be in conjunction with its Jan. 5 convocation, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
There is no required dress code for the event, but guests might keep in mind when picking attire that they will be representing their colleges to the city.
